RNC hits Obama for embracing Coburn spending limit for conferences

The guidance also requires agencies to decrease spending on travel by 30 percent, requires deputy secretaries to review any conference where the agency spending could exceed $100,000 and requires public disclosure of such conferences.

“At $500,000 per conference, 'Debt King' Obama is setting such a strict spending limit that next year’s GSA conference will be forced to decide: mindreader or magician, not both. With wasteful policies like this it’s not hard to figure out why Obama has run the three largest deficits in history,” RNC spokeswoman Kirsten Kukowski said Monday in reaction.

In late April, the Senate agreed to a Coburn amendment to the Postal Reform bill that capped conference spending at $500,000.

Kukowski pointed out in an email that the Issa bill has the force of law and is stronger than executive guidance. She also noted that the administration allows a waiver of the limit, something the bill does not. The bill also requires more frequent reporting on conference spending.